U.S. hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer arrived Sunday to New York City after being held more than two years in an Iranian prison on allegations of spying and trespassing. Last night was their first night to sleep in the United States. The hikers were released last week, then taken to Oman, where they were joyfully reunited with their families. Their ordeal began in July 2009, when along with Sarah Shourd they were arrested while hiking near...

After more than two years spent in an Iranian prison on allegations of spying and trespassing, American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer were released yesterday. After a week of conflicting statements from the Iranian judiciary and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the pair were finally granted bail and handed over to Swiss diplomats. They were taken to Oman, where they were joyfully reunited with their families. In a brief press...

In his latest article for The New Yorker magazine, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh says the United States might attack Iran based on distorted estimates of Iran’s nuclear and military threat — just like it did with Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq. Hersh reveals that despite using Iranian informants and cutting-edge surveillance technology, U.S. officials have been unable to find decisive evidence...

Veteran investigative reporter Seymour Hersh assesses the popular uprisings sweeping the Middle East and North Africa amidst ongoing U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Despite touted gains and an upcoming U.S. military withdrawal deadline in Iraq, Hersh says, "Whatever you’re hearing, Iraq is going bad... It’s sectarian war. And the big question is going to be whether we pull out or not." On the uprisings, Hersh...

Al Jazeera English reporter Dorothy Parvaz, an American-Canadian-Iranian citizen, was detained in Syria on April 29 when she arrived to cover the ongoing unrest. She has not been seen since. On Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported she had been deported to Iran, although there has been no direct contact with her. The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling for her immediate release from Iranian authorities. We are joined by Kim Barker, the sister...

Months after her release from an Iranian prison, U.S. citizen Sarah Shourd has announced she will not return to Tehran next week to face espionage charges. Shourd was jailed for 14 months after she and friends, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, were detained by Iranian forces on July 31, 2009, for allegedly hiking across the Iraqi border into Iran. The trial for Bauer — who is now Shourd’s fiancé — and Fattal begins May 11. Shourd...

Iranian protesters returned to the streets on Sunday to mark the deaths of two men killed during demonstrations last week. Police used batons and tear gas to break up the protests. Among those detained were Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. “On one hand, the Iranian authorities are expressing solidarity with the democratic movement in Tunisia and Egypt and throughout the region," says Columbia...

Massive public protests continue to sweep the Middle East and North Africa in countries including Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and Iran—many being met with violent government crackdowns. We speak to Marwan Bishara, senior political analyst at Al Jazeera English, and MIT Professor Emeritus Noam Chomsky. "Perhaps the Arab moment has come," Bishara says, "It’s clear that the genie is out of the bottle. I think change is coming to...

2011 is shaping up to be an historic year in the Middle East and North Africa with the populist uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and the massive street protests across the region. Libya, Bahrain and Iran are the latest countries to be hit by a wave of popular protests. While President Obama has openly criticized Iran’s crackdown on protesters, he has said nothing critical about Bahrain, a close U.S. ally, where two protesters have been...

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